Asteroids

Name:

Asteroids

Company:

Atari

Model #:

CX-7802

Programmers:

Greg Munster, Doug Macrae, & Ethan (GCC)

Year:

1987

Released?

Yes

Notes:

Originally called 3-D Asteroids

Since its release in 1979, Asteroids has been a staple of the Atari
library. Released for just about every Atari system (except for
the 5200 and Jaguar), the 7800 version of Asteroids is considered to be
the best of best. Asteroids was so popular in fact, that Atari decided
to build it into the PAL version of the 7800 (if no game is inserted Asteroids
will play). Asteroids can be added to an NTSC 7800 with a simple
BIOS rom swap.

The original name of 7800 Asteroids was 3-D Asteroids. This is because
the asteroids are depicted as three dimensional rocks rather than flat
blobs (ala 2600 and 400/800 Asteroids). Unfortunately the 7800 only
has two joystick ports, so the three and four player modes found in the
400/800 version had to be dropped (as was the Team mode). However
the 7800 does support co-op and competition modes, which help round out
an already nice package.

Although the updated graphics are nice, the new 3-D asteroids tend to
look like rotating planets rather than asteroids. This is due to
the fact that all the asteroids are perfectly round rather than jagged
and oblong like they were in the 2600 and 400/800. This is mostly
likely due to the limits of the 7800 graphics engine, but one has to wonder
if the programmers couldn't have made them a little more 'asteroid' shaped. On the plus side,
the saucers also received a long overdue 3-D update.

Other than the graphical overhaul, 7800 Asteroids really didn't changed
much from the 400/800 version. Why Atari decided to go with regular
Asteroids rather than porting the far superior Asteroids Deluxe is unknown,
but by 1984 Asteroids was getting old and showing its age badly. People
were tiring of the same old arcade ports, and were looking for bigger
and better games. Still, if you're a fan of rock busting action you can't go wrong with Asteroids. Just don't expect to blown away by the gameplay (unless you're the saucer that is).